paswt Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 This does remind me of the Dumbell's Bank affair , heard a talk recently and it would appear that , after Dumbbell himself retired, the new board were profligate in dispensing increased dividends and then decided to make more out of 'tourism' by buying up pubs, hotels and a brewery to provide a business encompassing the blossoming tourist industry . Unfortunately those 'in the city' were not too impressed and the company floatation failed and the UK brewery, who it was hoped would underwrite the venture, got cold feet and the vast majority of the IOM residents took a very large bath. The IOM gov has had a long history of investment / spending cock ups ( see the horse trams thread) and I for one would hope that they won't agree to fund this venture, if private enterprise wants to ....... good luck to them . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2112 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 This is a no brainer. If we are serious about bringing tourists back to the Isle of Man, this is a very good way of doing it. The bucket & spade brigade are long gone. Cruise ship passengers spend excessively whilst ashore. Make it happen Laurence. The thing is we aren't talking Queen Mary and Victora Cunard Ships here, more like Fred Olsen and Saga types. Who will win? House of Mannanan, Sound Cafe and Laxey Wheel - all MNH! Yes Government gets bums on seats or through the turnstiles however Strand Street won't win unless the tourists wish to buy trackies, shell suits and trainees from Sports Direct. Wilkins now closing down so nothing for anyone with burn to burn. Still I'm sure Costa and Coffee Republic will Hoover up some of the cruise liner tourists. Sorry to sound cynical but yes on paper it sounds wonderful but let's be realistic. Be thankful for what we have, passengers come in by tender. If a wealthy businessman wants to speculate then fine, crack on .............. after all he has the money to build big container ships. The Business Community and Chamber of Commerce can all buy shares in the venture, but as a taxpayer ............ don't use my taxes please. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 The only possible benefit I can see would be that the berth could be used for larger ferries which could be used by the Liverpool-Belfast route as a stopover? I can't see what cruise ship passengers would spend their money on other than coach tours, coffee and buns and a TT 'T' shirt? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Stevens Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 http://magazines.ihs.com/Dredging-and-Port-Construction/ The above link may prove useful.......I was for ten years a technical author for a now defunct magazine "The Dock and Harbour Authority" and yes it was 27 years ago.... However, construction of deep water berths was then a massive costly procedure and has not got cheaper... By all means make Douglas Harbour bigger and deeper but with freight in mind and then you can have access to the general run of the mill RoPax ferries at the moment shut out as Douglas is too small... Now when I worked in the amusement arcades in Douglas I met a lot of these cruise folk coming ashore and by and large they were not impressed...The Americans thought it was like Eastern Europe!... And no they do not spend a lot as the ones that came ashore were the poor variety and some were even from Eastern Europe at that time... Frankly, unless you are on a heritage cruise there is nothing much to see on the Isle of Man and not a lot you would want to buy that you could not get on line and that includes the tweeds made in Laxey... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarne Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 (edited) http://www.orkneyharbours.com/cruise_ships.asp Those are the berths Orkney has, and it gets about £4 million worth of tourism a year from around 70-80 trips by cruise ships. (Seems low per passenger to be honest, but I guess there's no accomodation cost in that!) There's fuck all to do up there too except drink Skullsplitter and be cold, and they don't have any horse trams and it still gets loads of visits. I was quite against cruise ships until I did some research into it and similar island ports around the UK, and now I'm more for it if the cost is right. We can still get ships in by tender which doesn't cost us fuck all, so let's do that. (Though there's ZERO chance of it paying off £50 million in 5 years like your man says on Manx Radio - if Orkney only manages £4 million from 70 ships, then we wouldn't stand a chance just starting off) Edited January 17, 2017 by Tarne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Stevens Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Possibly Orkney got some EU or similar development funds? Also, people know where it is whereas most people I know think the IOM is the IOW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Stevens Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Orkney has a tree! I am told there is one tree in the town centre! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Prom Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 http://www.orkneyharbours.com/cruise_ships.asp Those are the berths Orkney has, and it gets about £4 million worth of tourism a year from around 70-80 trips by cruise ships. (Seems low per passenger to be honest, but I guess there's no accomodation cost in that!) There's fuck all to do up there too except drink Skullsplitter and be cold, and they don't have any horse trams and it still gets loads of visits. I was quite against cruise ships until I did some research into it and similar island ports around the UK, and now I'm more for it if the cost is right. We can still get ships in by tender which doesn't cost us fuck all, so let's do that. (Though there's ZERO chance of it paying off £50 million in 5 years like your man says on Manx Radio - if Orkney only manages £4 million from 70 ships, then we wouldn't stand a chance just starting off) Stop being so positive! The Isle of Man has more 'less to do' than Orkney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j2bad Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Now when I worked in the amusement arcades in Douglas I met a lot of these cruise folk coming ashore and by and large they were not impressed...The Americans thought it was like Eastern Europe!... It is a shame 'The Leisure' with its grim faced junkies has gone, would have been number one on the cruise ship itinerary, Mind you I remember my first trip to New York when my hosts got pissed off as my priority was to visit a gun shop and buy a 40oz bottle of beer rather than a tour of the Statue of Liberty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nom de plume Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I read a lot here why we shouldn't attempt such a venture, yet there seems to be little in the way of how we do grow tourism on the Island. The negativity is quite incredible. It is not just about the 5 or 6 hours these people spend on excursions or strolling through Douglas, there is a longer term benefit here. We have an idyllic Island which I'm fairly certain these passengers would note and choose to return in the future. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Stevens Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 No one said don't expand tourism! We said make a deeper berth so you can take the bigger freight ships.. At the moment operators have to either purpose build or turn the world upside down looking for small rust buckets to fit.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Stevens Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Now when I worked in the amusement arcades in Douglas I met a lot of these cruise folk coming ashore and by and large they were not impressed...The Americans thought it was like Eastern Europe!... It is a shame 'The Leisure' with its grim faced junkies has gone, would have been number one on the cruise ship itinerary, Mind you I remember my first trip to New York when my hosts got pissed off as my priority was to visit a gun shop and buy a 40oz bottle of beer rather than a tour of the Statue of Liberty. Well they thought the arcades were casinos! I had to explain they are/were for amusement...They did not spend much time on the Island it was a quick trip for a few hours and then back... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 I read a lot here why we shouldn't attempt such a venture, yet there seems to be little in the way of how we do grow tourism on the Island. The negativity is quite incredible. It is not just about the 5 or 6 hours these people spend on excursions or strolling through Douglas, there is a longer term benefit here. We have an idyllic Island which I'm fairly certain these passengers would note and choose to return in the future. I agree. This is sustainable business if it's developed & handled in the right way. Here's the 2017 schedule for Liverpool: http://www.cruise-liverpool.com/cruise-call-schedule/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homarus Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Here we f**king go again !! To quote the immortal Stuart Baggs ""We haven't just got one white Elephant ,we've got a whole field of white elephants with room for more"" !! The stupidity of these people never ceases to astound me! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 Here we f**king go again !! To quote the immortal Stuart Baggs ""We haven't just got one white Elephant ,we've got a whole field of white elephants with room for more"" !! The stupidity of these people never ceases to astound me! How can bringing people to the Island to spend money (do you think they pay zero for the services before coming ashore?) be stupid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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